Switching arrangement in coin collectors for telephone systems



06L 1933- H. v. 'ALEXANDERSSON E rAL, 2,133,523

SWITCHING ARRANGEMENT IN COIN COLLECTORS FOR TELEPHONE SYSTEMS Filed Oct. 19, 1935 Patented Oct. f8, 1938 SWITCHING-ARRANGEMENT IN com ooL- morons FUR-TELEPHONE"- SYSTEMS;

Harald.valdemarlAlexandersson; Stockholm, and Knut Hugo Blomberg, Appelviken, Sweden, as-- sig'n'orsyto Telefonaktiebol'aget L. M. Ericsson, Stockholm, Sweden; a company of Sweden Application October 19, 1935, Serial No. 45,816

- In-Sweden-.ctober 23, 1934 The present-invention relates to switching arrangements incoin: collectors-for telephone sys tems and more particularly to such: compel-- lectorsin which the payment of the amoun c required is'eficcted in-advance, i.v e'.,' previous: to-

the conversation; From the point. oi-viewof the. personusing the-telephone such'" apparatus-\ is pref erred-to apparatus in which the payment is effected after the talking connection has: been v completed, i; (an-when the called-subscriber: ane swers, but apparatus of the: former kind have hitherto been very: complicated through the means required in the apparatus properor in the exchange for 'efiectingz reiunding of. the coin in case the call doesnotmaturen According to the present invention said inconveniences are avoided: by blocking the coiniafter. insertion in the coin chute in such aposition that itcan be removed from the: chute by the "hand ifIthe conversationdoes not'mature b'utais collected automatically without any manipulation whatever from the side of the-calling party when the called subscriber answers: Inorder-to rene der this possible the coin collector apparatus"is provided with a relay arrangement arranged'in such a manner that upon a"changeof current in the conductordoop the speaking device of the apparatus is putoutof functionwhil'e'? at the same time a stop member in'thecoin'chuteis're leased permitting I a coin to diopwthrough the chuteand it is'also provided with 'a contact iar: rangement which", provided that Ca coin' has: been inserted, is actuated dur ing' 'the passagesofthe coin through the chute 'and directly or indirectly puts the: speaking arr'an'gemenv'intc? function again;

The accompanying drawing shows 'an embodi ment of the invention. La "and Lb'represent the two wiresof'the'subs'cribers line extending from the coin collector telephone'statiorri'to the ex change. The coincollector' telephone station-is shown to consist of anordinary' subscribers telephone'A the. speaking arrangement of which consists of the microphone M and'cthe-ltelephone receiverR; and ofthe coinjcollector proper contai-ninathe: coin chute the relay arrangement RI, R2, and a coin bOXinOt show-n.

,In'the'coin chute-there are provided two step elements Si and S2 which block thecoin or coins in two" positionsI andII; Thevifirs't mentioned position is :such that the-*coin projects 'from the slot sothatit can be recovered -byhand.- The stop SI -is*controlled by a relay Rl'shunted with a rectifierLl in such a manner; that the relay operates for a definite direction ot-current *there by releasing the stop memberso thatlthecointcan drop down. Upon operation, the relay R'lputs the speaking arrangement outv of function by short-circuiting the lsameat itscontact FL The relay R2 is includedfinfseries withthe relay'Rl in the subscribers loop and. shuntedwith a rectifier L2 in a direction. oppositeIthatYoi-LlQ R2 is slow-acting in order not to be actuatedby the dialled impulses or-other impulsesfrom the apparatus. The relay. R2Qcontrols a'stop, member S2 in the coin chute against which the. coin stops after ithas been released from thehstop.

member SI.- In said positionth'e'coin actuates the coin contact K which short-circuits. the relay RI. The relayrRl is also short-circuitedthrough a closing contacton RZ-Twhensaid relay is at, tracted. Bothvrelays .areshuntedthroughaicondenser V C for letting. through" the speaking; Icurrents. Y 1 c a The switr'zhingarrangement operates in the m1: lowingzmanner. The personwabbut tense/the telephone inserts a -coin in the coin chute preferably before the call to theexchangeiis made.

The: coin is retained-sin-positiontITand= can as long as it remains-in thisposition be recovered by the hand. When the micro-telephone is lifted the line is energizedin such -aidirection that relay. R2-operates whereas relay-RI is shunted by. the rectifier LI sothatit doesnot receivesufiicint current tobe-able to attract its armature Upon, operation relay Rl-short-icircuitsrelayRlS. The speaking device cannow be used and memmng party? can in ordinary mannerdialthe wanted subscriber's number orspeak to an operator. Upon operation of the relay R2 the-stop member S2 is actuated whereby a coin possibly-remaining in .the'coin chute-in vposition II is releasedfand drops into the coin box;

In the coin collecting apparatus nothing else takes place. until the called subscriber answers,

when the direction of th'ecurrent in the .line" extending from the exchange to the coin"'col lector telephone station is reversed. For the new direction of currentthe relay R2 is shuntedto such an extent by the-rectifier L2 that said-relay releases whereby the short-circuit for relay RI ceases and said relay receives sufi'c'ient current to cause the same to operate. The speaking device is then short-circuited-so that the calling party can neither speak to nor hear the called subscriber, while at the same time the stop member SI permits the coin to. drop through the coinchut'e to position II. In said position the coin contact K is closed and short-circuits the r lay RI whereby said-relayre1easesand- -inter.-

rupts the short-circuit of the speaking device so and relay RI would have remained operated and the speaking device short-circuited.

The coin is retained on the lower stop member and remains there as long as the conversation During the conversation none of the relasts. lays is energized whereby'a reduction of the microphone current is avoided 'In addition the advantage is obtained that an interruption of the current in the line loop, for instance through the actuation of the switch hook, does not cause any changed connections in the apparatus. Furthermore, the stop memberSI blocks the coin slot so that a coin inserted by mistake does not drop into the coin chute. If the release in the exchange is delayed after the micro-telephone has been replaced, for instance in connection with a trunk connection, a coin inserted by another telephoning party can not be lost but is 7 blocked until the new call has matured. When the new call is made or when a call is received at the coin collectortelephone' station the relay R2 is actuated, and a coin occupying position II is let down into the coin box. An incoming call can be received directly, at an outgoing callthe relay RI is actuated in the above described manner when the called party answers.

The above described coin collector telephone station constitutes only anjembodiment of the invention which can be var'iedin different ways.

Furthermore, it is evident that the coin collector apparatus'can be designed for one or'more coins and for coins of diiferent values. If only one coin is to be used the coin contact isclosed by said coin, as is indicated in the shown embodiment. If two coins have to be inserted the coin contact is placed so that it is actuated continuously by the upper coin first when both coins lie on top of one another. When the first coin passes a momentary short-circuiting of the relay RI is obtained but said short-circuit is of no importance since the relay operates immediately thereafter and short-circuits the speaking device anew. If the stipulated charge can be paid either through one coin of a high value or through several coins of lower value two parallel-connected coin contacts are provided which are ac.- tuated in the different coin chutes. If the charge consists of one coin of a certain value and one coin of another value two series-connected coin contacts are provided so that both coins must be 1 inserted to causethe desired short-circuiting of the relay RI.

Furthermore, the speaking apparatus and the coin collecting apparatus proper can either be separate, as shown, or built together into a common apparatus in a manner known'per se.

We claim: V I

1. A telephone pay station connected to a line loop leading to the exchange, a speaking device and a relay set at the said telephone station, means to operate the said relay set through a reversal of the direction of the current in the line loop in order to put the said speaking device out of function when a called subscriber answers,

and coin operated contact means adapted at op eration to nullify the influence produced by the current reversal upon the relay-set.

2. A telephone pay station connected to a line loop leading to the exchange, a speaking device and a relay set at the said telephone station, a current rectifier allowing the operation of the said relay set through a reversal of the direction of the current in the line loop in order to put the said speaking device out of function when a called subscriber answers, and coin operated contact means adapted at operation to nullify the influence produced by the current reversal upon the relay set.

3. A telephone pay station connected to a line loop leading to the exchange, a speaking device and a relay at the said telephone station, a contact at the said relay for short-circuiting the speaking device, means to operate the said relay through a reversal of the direction of the current inthe line loop in order to put the said speaking device out of function when the called subscriber answers, and coin operated contact means adapted at operation to nullify the influence produced by the current reversal upon the relay set.

4. A telephone pay station connected to a line loop leading to the exchange, a speaking device and a relay at the said telephone station, a contact at the said relay for short-circuiting the speaking device, a coin chute and a blocking member actuated by the armature of the said relay and adapted to controlthe dropping of the coin into the said chute, means to operate the said relay through a reversal of the direction of the current in the line loop in order to put the said speaking device out of function when the called subscriber answers, and coin operated contact means adapted at operation to nullify the influence produced by the current reversal upon the relay set.

5. A telephone pay station connected to a line loop leading to the exchange, a speaking device and a relay at the said station, a contact at the said relay for short-circuiting the speaking device, means to operate the said relay through a reversal of the direction of the current in the line loop in order to put the said speaking device out of function when the called subscriber answers, coin operated contact means adapted at operation to nullify the influence produced by the current reversal upon the relay set, a further relay connected in series with the said first relay, and a blocking member at the collecting end of the chute controlled by said latter relay.

6. Atelephone pay station connected to a line loop leading to the exchange, a speaking'device and a relay at the said station, a contact at the said relay for short-circuiting the speaking device, means to operate the said relay through a reversal of the direction of the current in the line loop in order to put the said speaking device out of function when the called subscriber answers, coin operated contact means adapted at operation to nullify the influence produced by the current reversal upon the relay set, a further relay connected in series with the said first relay, a blocking member at the collecting end of the chute controlled by said latter relay the said blocking member being arranged so as to allow one or more coins resting on the same to actuate the coin contact.

'7. A telephone pay station'connected to a line loop leading to the exchange, a speaking device and a relay at the said station, a contact at the said relay for short-circuiting the speaking device, means to operate the said relay through a reversal of the direction of the current in the line loop in order to put the said speaking device out of function when the called subscriber answers, coin operated contact means adapted at operation to nullify the influence produced by the current reversal upon the relay set, and a further slow-acting relay adapted in energized condition to prevent the operation of the said first relay.

8. A telephone pay station connected to a line loop leading to the exchange, a speaking device and a relay at the said station, a contact at the said relay for short-circuiting the speaking device, means to operate the said relay through a reversal of the direction of the current in the line loop in order to put the said speaking device out of function when the called subscriber an swers, coin operated contact means adapted at operation to nullify the influence produced by the current reversal upon the relay set, a further relay connected in series with the said first relay, and a rectifier connected in parallel with the said latter relay in such a manner that the said relay operates for the direction of current prevailing in the loop when a call is efiected from the telephone pay station.

9. A telephone pay station connected to a line loop leading to the exchange, a speaking device and a relay at the said station, a contact at the said relay for short-circuiting the speaking device, means to operate the said relay through a reversal of the direction of the current in the line loop in order to put the said speaking device out of function when the called subscriber an- 

